


Triple Threat

by Vanessa_Cocotea



Category: Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: Chocolate, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1440412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanessa_Cocotea/pseuds/Vanessa_Cocotea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From 2006:</p><p>A nutty threesome wreaks havoc at a chocolate convention. The organisers get their own back - big time!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triple Threat

**Author's Note:**

> The "Catherine" in this is - me. I love Brazilian Darkness chocolates!
> 
> P.S. I have never been into sport - the arts and sciences, yes - but never sport!

It was a paradise for those of a particular persuasion. So thought the two very similar looking men, who had arrived at opposite sides of the vast chamber. To each of them, it was their own personal Shangri-La! They impatiently gave their tickets to a receptionist and literally ran in like little boys. One, brown curling hair, clad in jeans, black t-shirt and trainers, with sunglasses perched atop his head, reluctantly snapped shut his mobile, and made straight for his beloved Aero bars, deliciously displayed on a nearby table.

The other, curling shoulder-length chestnut hair, wearing a green velvet frock coat, waistcoat, grey trousers, wing-collared white shirt and a grey cravat, pocketed a slender metal wand, and headed immediately for the refreshment area. He ordered a nice hot cup of chocolate chai tea.

This was a highly comprehensive chocolate convention. There was even a "pick-n-mix" section, which delighted a certain middle-aged fine-boned shortish woman no end! They had her favourites - Roses - Brazilian Darkness! She was purchasing a couple of pounds, weight-wise and cash-wise, when she noticed a velvet-clad gentleman approach.

He was still sipping his tea, but recognised her immediately.

"Catherine! It's good to see you! He set his cup down on the dealer's table and, enveloping her in an enthusiastic bear hug, gave her a loud kiss.

"Doctor! Why am I NOT surprised to see you here?" She grinned, then sniffed. "Ooh! They've got chocolate chai tea? I've got to get some! I love that!'

"Oh please! Allow me!" He did a double-take. "Great Rassilon! Well I'm hardly surprised! Riordan! How are you?" And a second bear hug was bestowed on the latest arrival to the table. The hug was so enthusiastic, that it nearly knocked Riordan's glasses off the top of his head, but not quite! Riordan took the opportunity to escape a hello kiss, when he spied Catherine. He extricated himself and hugged her. "Cat! Hello!" He smiled at her and gave her a kiss. "How are you doing, love?"

"Great! Well! Well! The gang's all here! I must get some of that chocolate chai tea, and then, how about we lay waste to the place together?"

"Excellent!" agreed the Doctor.

"Fantastic!" echoed Riordan.

There was a bit of a tussle at the tea table. Both men insisted on paying for Cat's tea. She solved the problem by buying her own tea. Shaking her head, she said to herself, "Well, I'm glad old-fashioned chivalry isn't dead...At least, I think I'm glad." Out loud she said, "C'mon! I want to look at the books. See if they've got "Chocolate: An Illustrated History". Even though it's out-of-print, they might still have it. Seriously, Riordan, you'll love it! It's a book no chocolate lover should be without!"

The Doctor grinned, "I believe I have it somewhere in the TARDIS library. Excellent book! Read it in one sitting. Excellent!"

Smiling, Catherine shook her head, thinking, "Was there anything he DIDN'T have?" Out loud she shouted, "Ah! Riordan! They've got it! Riordan? Riordan?" He was nowhere. The Doctor and Catherine scanned the whole auditorium. Nothing. Then they heard a loud voice yell, "YES!". They followed the sound.

Riordan was sitting cross-legged on the floor by a table featuring - oh no! - football themed chocolate goodies! He was pouring through a box, searching for Celtic chocolate footballs. He had out every one in the box. As they approached, he was struggling to hold the mere dozen or so boxes of the Celtic balls, and trying to get the money out to pay for them! Catherine and the Doctor hurried over to help.

"Ta!" Riordan smiled gratefully.

Catherine giggled, "You're sure this is all they have?" She teased.

"I think so...just a minute." He dived back into the box, only to be hauled out by the collar. The Doctor, letting him go, grinned.

"Save some for the other fans, eh old chap?"

"Oh. Right."

"Oh look! It's a chocolate Celtic flag!" Catherine nodded.

"Where?" Riordan looked where she indicated. At the far end of the table lay a chocolate Celtic flag - a good half metre in height. "How the **** did I miss THAT???? How much?"

It was a good thing shopping trolleys were provided. All three had theirs filled within the first hour. It was a further good thing that they were able to check their purchases and continue on. Which they started to do. At this rate, Riordan and Catherine would need the TARDIS to transport their purchases home. That is, if there was any room left after the Doctor had off-loaded his! The crates of chocolate tea alone would fill the console room!

In fact, after a minute's consideration, they decided to dispense with the cloak room, left their IDs with the attendant - who did a double-take at the Doctor's before accepting it - and took their first round directly to the TARDIS, using their borrowed trolleys.

When they got back, they opted for an ice cream break, which soon resembled a sabbatical!

"Hurry up! It can't be THAT difficult, can it?" The Doctor queried.

"Yes! Yes! I know!" Riordan walked back and forth before the cooler at least twenty times! "Ahm? Chocolate Rainbow? Or Chocolate Tangerine? Or?" He started pacing again.

"Come on! You're just choosing an ice cream, not performing sentry duty!" Catherine laughed. "If you EVER make up your mind, we'll be at that table."

They'd just sat down, when they heard a loud, "Bloody Hell! At last! Mocha gelato!"

Both the Doctor and Catherine were laughing and also thinking, "At last!" Riordan bounced over with a very large Mocha gelato, grinning from ear to ear.

Whilst they ate, they plotted their next assault. They decided to give the showing of "Chocolat" a miss, as the Doctor had invited Riordan and Catherine to a private showing in the TARDIS library, complete with chocolate fizzy drinks, chocolate-covered popcorn, and chocolate ice cream. They couldn't wait!

They took off for more shopping. By the time they'd headed for the TARDIS yet again to off-load, Catherine had O'Ded on chocolate-themed cuddly toys, chocolates, and tea. Riordan had been back to raid the Aero bars, Maltesers, other assorted chocolates, the book, and nearly cleared out the Celtic goodies. The Doctor had enough chocolate tea to see him through a good fortnight. A normal person would have had enough for two years, but the Doctor - a fortnight - if he was careful. He also staggered under the weight of chocolate humbugs, chocolates, chocolate bars, and he'd even discovered chocolate Jelly Babies!

They'd bought so much, that all three were banned from making any more purchases, possibly apart from refreshments, so as to leave the other attendees something! It took several more trips to off-load everything.

Since the trio was through buying, albeit reluctantly, they headed for the photo booth to have their photos taken with several famous "Chocolate" characters. The photos would have been great, if reluctant subjects, Catherine and Riordan ( who both hated having their photos taken ), hadn't kept pulling faces, and the Doctor hadn't insisted on kissing all the characters, giving only a back view of himself to the camera. Finally, the Security guards escorted them away. The Doctor had insisted on taking pictures himself and had wanted the subjects to dance to "The Candy Man", whilst he jostled the camera to create what he called "great special effects"! They were barely given time to collect their own photos.

The organisers got their own back when all three signed on for the Dunking Vat. By some mysterious set of circumstances, there were only three participants. They were given complimentary old-fashioned bathing costumes. Catherine started corpsing immediately, on seeing her two friends in their old-fashioned stripy suits. It was quite extraordinary seeing the Doctor in something other than velvet, linen and silk! And, also, quite extraordinary, seeing Riordan in something other than his "jeans, t-shirt, trainers" uniform! But she wasn't the only one to laugh. When she emerged in her ruffly navy costume, complete with mob cap, both men totally lost it!

Riordan took to leaning on the nearest table and, alternatively pounding on it, and pointing at her! The Doctor actually wound up on the floor, rolling about, and pointing, and laughing hysterically! Both men soon had tears steaming out of their eyes! Catherine had to admit, she looked pretty crazy - like a bundle of walking ruffles! All three were wiping their eyes as they stumbled towards the vat.

The premise was that, for every time a person got dunked in chocolate, that was more money for charity. The trio smiled. By sheer coincidence, they'd all three picked "Save The Children". They queued up. It seemed that a majority of guests, and several staff, were anxious to dump the "Nutter Trio" in chocolate!

"Ladies first!" Catherine gave the Doctor a wrinkled nose and clambered up the short ladder. She'd no more got sat down, when she got dumped by someone on their first throw of a beanbag. Off guard, and spluttering, she climbed out. After wiping her face with the hem of her suit's skirt, she climbed back up. Barely able to see, owing to the chocolate dripping from her cap, and the fact that she'd given her glasses to the Doctor, she had to feel her way onto the seat. She was determined to raise as much money as possible! In the end, she got dumped eight times, before she finally had to give up. She collapsed, exhausted, on the floor by the vat.

"Done with chocolate?" Riordan teased.

"Never!" She grinned. The two men smiled.

Riordan went next. He was so startled at his first dunking, that he did a complete somersault in mid air, before flopping in the chocolate. Lifting his shirt to wipe his face, he got ready to go again. He managed 14 times. He got out, bowed, and walked over to his friends, arms wide.

"Show Off!" Catherine laughed. She got a wrinkled nose directed at her.

Lastly, it was the Doctor's turn. He clambered up, stood on the seat, bowing, and promptly got knocked in! He fell with arms and legs splayed, and made a tremendously loud splash! Chocolate went everywhere! His friends weren't the only people to get drenched in chocolate. He'd even soaked a few Security guards, who'd come over to watch the notorious three get theirs. He climbed out, clutching the sides of the vat and gasping. He'd swallowed several litres of chocolate! When he stopped gasping, he gave the crowd a cheeky grin and said, "This chocolate is positively delicious! Must do this again!" Up he went, then down he went - 16 times in total. As a finale, he did a few backstrokes, and a few butterfly strokes round the vat. He finally got out and bowed, three times, in the style of a king - no more, no less. The crowd whistled and cheered and applauded. Catherine and Riordan laughed and chorused, "Now THAT'S the Show Off!"

All three took off to clean up. The convention took place in a hotel and a couple of rooms had been set aside for the Dunking Vat participants in which to clean up.

After they were all nice and tidy again, but still smelling of chocolate, they decided to wander about. Catherine had a bag of her favourite Brazilian Darknesss with her, which she shared with her two friends. The Doctor nipped off to get them some tea, and they strolled round the displays, drinking and munching. Various dealers looked at them warily, afraid the three might disobey orders and insist on buying even more stuff, thus leaving the dealers facing other disappointed customers. But everything went fine, until the Doctor, Catherine and Riordan heard shouting.

"That's MY goal!" Grinning, Riordan grabbed a chocolate from Catherine's bag, and took off towards the sound. He completely disappeared into the crowd. The Doctor and Cat began searching for him. They looked everywhere. The Doctor caused a fuss when he searched under a few tables and upset the merchandise.

"I'm terribly sorry! Do forgive me!" He hastily returned everything. He and Catherine reunited. They shrugged their shoulders. Riordan was nowhere to be found. Then they heard a loud "YES!". They followed the sound. Riordan was in a corner of the auditorium, playing football with a number of women, using a piece of Quality Street as a football! Catherine groaned and the Doctor joined in, after giving his coat to Catherine. She had to smile though. The game was utterly bonkers! The "footballers" kept losing their "ball". When the Quality Street was used up, Riordan produced the Brazilian Darkness he'd taken. Cat gaped, stuck a hand to her face and shook her head. That was the last Brazilian Darkness she'd had with her! She sighed, went off, checked the Doctor's coat, and joined the game, which was still going on when she got back! They'd managed not to lose this chocolate "ball". In the end, the previous goal was the only one scored. So the Cadburys were the winners and the Mars Bars were the losers. But it was all in fun and the three Mars Bars enjoyed themselves enormously. Whilst the Doctor retrieved his coat, Riordan teased Cat mercilessly about enjoying football. She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed.

They spent the last few hours looking round together and separately. But by closing, Catherine couldn't find her two friends anywhere. She approached a couple of Security guards.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Have you seen them? I can't think where they've got to." She paused. "Just a minute. I think I hear them." She followed the voices and saw the table.

"OH...MY...GOD! ! ! !"

All anyone could see for a few moments were the soles of two pairs of shoes. Everything else, including the table, was buried under a sea of assorted chocolate wrappers. The chocolate wrappers shifted slightly. Groggy voices were heard.

"Doctor? Can you see an Aero bar your side?"

"Hang on, Riordan. I'll check...Aha! Got one!"

"Fantastic!" Riordan lunged for the chocolate and knocked the Doctor over.

"AHHHH! Careful there, mate!"

"Sorry." Riordan sat back to enjoy his umpteenth chocolate bar of the day. "Yes!"

Catherine was still gaping, when a pair of organisers walked over. They took one look at the table and gasped! They saw only an empty tub and a mountain of empty wrappers. Then they spied the half-written sign, "Free...", and the two pairs of shoes under the wrappers. They looked at Catherine, saw her face, and immediately knew who the miscreants were.

"Well, THAT was a mistake! Leaving the prize tub unattended on the table." One of them said.

"Prize tub?" Catherine queried.

"Yes," The other organiser replied. "It was to be the grand prize for a chocolate trivia competition. I'd just started to write the sign, "Freeman's ( that's me ) property-off limits", when I got an emergency call. Worried, I dashed off, forgetting about the tub. So now, that competition's off, I'm afraid. I'm truly sorry."

"It's not all YOUR fault, Mavis." The other organiser looked pointedly at the two slowly emerging figures. Both were groaning. What happened next, mortified poor Catherine! There was an awful gagging, then the errant twosome promptly threw up!

Catherine threw her hands in the air and stalked off to the TARDIS without saying another word, but she couldn't help grinning just a bit.

The End


End file.
